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- ATX Pulse 4/22-24/26 (free): CoA Compromises with Gov. Abbott on APD ICE Policy // Train Derails Downtown Friday // APD Investigates 21st Homicide of 2026 // Scattered Storms Possible This Week // Longhorns Drafted for NFL
ATX Pulse 4/22-24/26 (free): CoA Compromises with Gov. Abbott on APD ICE Policy // Train Derails Downtown Friday // APD Investigates 21st Homicide of 2026 // Scattered Storms Possible This Week // Longhorns Drafted for NFL
Everything you NEED TO KNOW about Austin.
Matt Mackowiak
April 26, 2026
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WEDNESDAY, APRIL 22, 2026 - FRIDAY, APRIL 24, 2026
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WEATHER
Monday: H: 93° / L: 72°. 10% chance of rain.
Monday: H: 94° / L: 73°. 30% chance of scattered thunderstorms.
Wednesday: H: 91° / L: 72°. 30% chance of scattered thunderstorms.
Thursday: H: 85° / L: 68°. 30% chance of scattered thunderstorms.
Friday: H: 76° / L: 63°. 40% chance of scattered thunderstorms.
TOP NEWS
"Austin Police will adjust ICE policies following Gov. Abbott funding threat" via KUT –- The Austin Police Department will adjust its rules on how officers engage with federal immigration authorities after Texas Gov. Greg Abbott threatened to block the city from receiving state grant funding.
Earlier this year, APD released new rules for how officers interact with Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Under those rules, an officer had to first clear any communication with ICE with a supervisor if an individual had a civil administrative warrant — a noncriminal charge. Austin officers are required to communicate with ICE if a suspect is facing criminal charges.
Now, the rules will be updated to clarify that if someone has an ICE administrative warrant, the officer or supervisor “should, when operationally feasible,” contact ICE.
Officers should consider urgent public safety needs in the city first, and whether they are needed elsewhere, the city said. The orders also clarify “officers shall not take an unreasonable amount of time assisting in these matters.”
Last week, Abbott threatened to pull $2.5 million in state grants from Austin over its rules on how police cooperate with federal immigration authorities. Houston and Dallas are facing similar threats from the governor.
Abbott said restricting any notification to ICE agents could be in breach of the grant agreements the city entered into.
Just a few days before, Attorney General Ken Paxton announced he had launched an investigation into APD's policies over the same concern.
Austin Police Chief Lisa Davis said public safety and community policing are the main focus. “Allocating resources in a way that protects public safety is vitally important and these updated General Orders allow for that," she said in a written statement.
Mayor Kirk Watson said the new rules were a rational approach that maximized APD's limited resources to adequately address Austin’s public safety needs.
“We must do the job of policing in a practical and reasonable way," Watson said in a statement. "We do not have the time or resources to engage in activities that pull officers away from needed work and create inefficiencies. That is how we keep Austin safe."
He acknowledged that the city relies on funding from sources such as state grants to be able to keep Austin safe.
“I believe the City was following state requirements and I feel strongly that too often politics overwhelms good policy," Watson said. "The threatened loss of these grants would have meant the loss of important public safety services for people we want protected. We have an obligation to them."
But not all city leaders agree with the changes.
In a joint statement, Austin City Council members Vanessa Fuentes, José Velásquez, Mike Siegel and Zo Qadri said "while the city held firm on some core principles, City management capitulated to the Governor’s unreasonable demand to change our general orders and tamper with APD officers’ lawful discretion to choose not to call ICE when they encounter a non-judicial administrative ICE warrant."
They said the move would overburden already-scarce police resources and fuel a "fear-driven political agenda."
In the coming days, the council members said they plan to explore all options "to reverse this disheartening decision.”
The grants the city faced losing include those that provide mental health resources for police officers, support sexual assault survivors, improve the ability to respond to violent crimes against women, and work to protect the city’s cybersecurity.
Last year, more than 700,000 noncriminal, administrative warrants were added to the National Crime Information Center database. It's a system used by police to exchange crime data across the country.
Austin city leaders said those additions created confusion for officers, and the rules were updated to give them a better understanding of how to handle those administrative warrants.
State law, passed in 2017, prohibits Texas cities from creating policies that stop officers from calling ICE. But local police departments can choose not to put police resources toward immigration enforcement if it interferes with their other work. (KUT)
"Train derailment in downtown Austin" via FOX7 –- A train has derailed in downtown Austin.
The derailment was in the area of 3rd Street and Bowie Street, affecting the railroad crossings there and at Mary and Oltorf.
The Austin Police Department says it began receiving calls about the incident at around 5 a.m. (FOX7)
"University of Texas establishes AI-native medical center, research campus with ‘historic’ investment" via KXAN – The University of Texas at Austin announced it is launching an advanced research campus that will house a new medical center equipped with artificial intelligence in an effort to provide more precise care, cancer treatment and better health outcomes. The new medical center is planned to open in 2030. This new initiative comes after Michael and Susan Dell made a sizeable investment that ‘represents one of the largest-ever philanthropic commitments to any U.S. university’, according to a news release from UT.
The medical center will be known as the UT Dell Medical Center and will sit on the UT Dell Campus for Advanced Research. The Dells have now donated more than $1 billion to the university in their lifetime. "By bringing together medicine, science and computing in one campus designed for the AI era, UT can create more opportunity, deliver better outcomes, and build a stronger future for communities across Texas and beyond," the Dells said in a news release.
The UT Dell Medical Center will connect prevention, diagnosis, treatment and discovery through native-AI. Native-AI is a term used to describe a system or facility built from the ground up with AI at its core, rather than adding AI to established systems. "At UT Dell Medical Center, we are building an integrated, patient-centered model powered by AI and advanced technology that shifts the focus from treating sickness to advancing health itself through prevention, prediction and precision," Dr. Claudia Lucchinetti, the senior vice president for medical affairs and dean of Dell Medical School, said in a statement. "This will transform how we care for patients, how we train the next generation of physicians, and how we accelerate life science innovation to improve lives at scale.”
The medical center will also integrate the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center to provide access to cancer care. “Bringing together UT and the world-renowned MD Anderson into one integrated care center connects two excellent institutions whose work will drive the next generation of medical breakthroughs," Gov. Greg Abbott said in a statement. "Through this partnership and state-of-the-art medical center, Texans will have access to even better care from the best medical minds in the world.” (KXAN)
"Convict Hill Road bridge over U.S. 290 set to open Wednesday night" via KXAN – AUSTIN (KXAN) – A new bridge carrying Convict Hill Road over U.S. 290 is set to open as early as Wednesday night, April 22, marking another milestone in the Oak Hill Parkway Project. The bridge opening builds on recent progress to the overall project.
Newly opened westbound U.S. 290 mainlanes between Patton Ranch Road and just west of RM 1826 now allow commuters to drive between downtown Austin and Dripping Springs without stopping at traffic lights.
The Oak Hill Parkway Project is expected to conclude in mid-2026, according to TxDOT.
(KXAN)
THE BLOTTER
"Southeast Austin homicide being investigated as city's 21st" via FOX7 – The Austin Police Department is investigating the city’s latest homicide.
Police say the incident happened in the 1500 block of Royal Crest Drive.
APD says it received a call about the incident at around 7:21 a.m.
Officers arrived and found a man unresponsive in the parking lot. Life-saving measures were administered but APD says the victim was pronounced dead at the scene. (FOX7)
